Monthly Archive for September, 2008

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A shameless plug: HLPA Conference 10 Dec 2008

By J on 20/09/2008. 0 Comments

The Housing Law Practitioners’ Association annual conference is being held on the 10th December 2008 at the Royal Institute of British Architects, London. Those of you who subscribe to Legal Action should already have had your application forms, but, for everyone else, details can be found here. The speakers include:

  • Rabinder Singh QC on equality and discrimination law after Malcolm;
  • Andrew Arden QC, Jan Luba QC and Caroline Hunter on current issues in homelessness;
  • Robert Latham and Christopher Baker on allocation schemes;
  • James Stark, Derek McConnell and Bob Lawrence (CLG) on possession proceedings;
  • Matthew Hutchings and Stephen Cottle on housing and human rights.

The conference lasts from 9am … Read the full post

Posted in Housing law - All. Tags: , , .

Views and news from Hlpa meeting

By NL on 17/09/2008. 2 Comments

The Hlpa meeting tonight (17/9/08) was a particularly interesting one, on the topic of disrepair. Talks were from Mel Cairns, Andrew Brookes of Anthony Gold and Marina Sergides of Garden Court.

Among the end of meeting news items were:

  • The current intent is that the main body of the Housing & Regeneration Act, including the tolerated trespasser provisions, will come into force on 6 April 2009.
  • New Housing Benefit regs coming into force on 6 October 2008 mean that HB backdating claims can only be made for 6 months (for those of working age) and 3 months (for pensioners). Not good news.

There were a few surprises for me arising … Read the full post

Posted in Benefits, Disrepair and Housing law - All. Tags: , , , , .

Lack of ownership in shared ownership

By NL on 12/09/2008. 19 Comments

[Edit 15/09/08. It now looks like the following judgment is a) being appealed shortly and b) may only have been a County Court judgment, not High Court - this latter point is not clear but reliable sources say County Court]

[Edit 18/09/08.  In the comments to this post, a few people, mostly being me, were wondering why any lender would touch shared ownership if their security could vanish this way. I've had a look at a few shared ownership leases now. They typically carry a clause requiring the landlord to notify the lender of any forthcoming possession/forfeiture proceedings for rent arrears. So the lender has the opportunity to pay off … Read the full post

Posted in assured-tenancy, Housing law - All, Leasehold and shared ownership and Possession. Tags: , , , , .

Weaver un-appealed?

By NL on 11/09/2008. 27 Comments

[Edit 16/09: We now have contrary information, also 'authoritative' in source, also unconfirmed, that the appeal is going ahead. So, until we have further info, your guess is as good as ours.]

Thanks to Ethan at ‘That Snail..’ for passing on unconfirmed news (aka a rumour) that London & Quadrant have decided not to appeal R(Weaver) v L&Q, which, lest anyone forget, was the landmark decision on RSLs being public bodies in their housing function for the purposes of judicial review.

If true, this is a surprise, to put it mildly. Does anyone have confirmation?… Read the full post

Posted in assured-tenancy, Housing law - All and Possession. Tags: , , , , , .

Alternative sites – the burden of proof

By NL on 10/09/2008. 0 Comments

South Cambridgeshire District Council v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government & Ors [2008] EWCA Civ 1010 was an appeal of a High Court decision on Judicial Review of the decision of an Inspector in the appeal of a planning decision not to allow residential caravan siting for a family on a property in South Cambridgeshire.

The family involved had srong personal reasons involving the medical condition of a child for remaining in the area. Planning permission was refused on the basis that it was against the regional development plan. The inspector allowed the appeal with strict conditions on the basis of the exceptional conditions. South Cambs challenged … Read the full post

Posted in FLW case note, Housing law - All, Licences and occupiers, Possession and Regulation and planning. Tags: , , , , .

CBL Guidance – More Thoughts …

By Dave on 10/09/2008. 0 Comments

Well, Nearly Legal asks and the CLG deliver. We posted a note on 12 August, when not much was happening, asking why the new CBL guidance hadn’t seen the light of day (with some scurrilous thoughts), and a couple of weeks later it was published (link here) with no need for transparent envelopes. What’s more, it’s rather more ambitious than the original consultation draft and the CLG should actually be praised for walking the tightrope between the ministerial (and other) zealots on the one hand and, on the other hand, the existing law and practice.

As a result, there’s lots in it for advisors and housing officers/managers – there … Read the full post

Posted in Allocation, FLW article, Housing law - All and secure-tenancy. Tags: , , .

Unsung heroes?

By NL on 04/09/2008. 0 Comments

Under the banner of ‘Unsung Heroes’, LAPG is inviting nominations for the 6th annual Legal Aid Laywer of the year awards. The categories are

  • Criminal Defence
  • Mental Health
  • Family
  • Legal aid firm/not-for-profit-agency
  • Young Solicitor
  • Barrister
  • Immigration and Asylum
  • Social and Welfare
  • Young Barrister
  • And the Outstanding Achievement award

Nominations are to be in by the end of October and forms are available at the link above. There are some quite amusing conjunctions in the sponsorship to spot.

NL thinks we are all completely wonderful, apart from the few that aren’t. But if you know a colleague or practice whose ‘above and beyondness’ deserves a public pat on the back … Read the full post

Posted in Various (non-housing). Tags: , , .
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